I need some wheelchair friendly ideas!

Right, it's throw my toys out of my pram time
In general terms, I have long since accepted that I need my wheelchair and it's a very useful tool in helping me maintain my quality of life. Without it, I would be exhausted and in agony only a few minutes after leaving the house, so the chair has enabled me to go for days out again and to reclaim a few bits of my life. But I do have a few moments each year, where I want to stamp my feet and whinge at my hard luck, and I'm afraid this is one of them

Traditionally, I suppose I fit under the "goth" lable. I'm not very keen on labling myself, but I guess if the New Rock boot fits... I used to wear steel-boned corsets and big skirts as "normal" wear, but generally, they require being upright My other favourite is a beautiful black and red Chinese silk dress which I bought for a relative's wedding, but again, it isn't an outfit which appreciates the wearer sitting.
So over the years, my style of dress has toned down into "sitting friendly" outfits - mostly jeans and a huge range of t-shirts and tank tops.

Tomorrow, we're going to the Whitby Goth Weekend. I love it, and we have been going twice a year for the last five or six years. Last October, I went in jeans and t-shirts, but I felt horribly underdressed and so envious of all the girls in their gorgeous dresses, so in April, I went in corsets and big skirts, only to find that the skirts got caught up on my wheels and even with the bottom few eyelets missed on my corset, breathing became a serious issue when sitting down and I had a panic attack, which required me to be cut out of my corset Fortunately, I had an overshirt with me or that could have been exceptionally embarrassing!
Even my lovely leather trench coat becomes uncomfortable when I'm having to sit down in it.

So I need some inspiration for dressing up while sitting down comfortably that won't cost me an arm and a leg. I was hoping to have my scooter in time for the weekend, and was going to dress the scooter up a bit, but my OH finds the wheelchair too difficult when it's got bits dangling off it.
I've just dyed my hair purple, which is a bit of a change from my traditional black (it's very bright purple at the root, and darker towards the tip, so it's almost black but shimmers purple in the light - it looks excellent ), so I think I'm going to go with a black and purple theme for my clothes as well.

My brother suggested I should go as a Dalek... I don't really think he gets it

im sorry i havnt really got any ideas, but your hair sounds great any pics?????
there must be some web sites that can help.
most of the wheel chair users i know are either male or old.
good luck and dont forget we want PICCYS

Well the only ideas I could come up with almost certainly involve spending money.

Sitting down, what is going to be most on show is head to waste and knees to feet. With a free reign on spending, I would've gone for a really fancy top and a really fancy pair of knee-high (or higher, if they bend at the knees!) boots. the in-between could've been something like leggins (but sorry, really don't know whether they would fit in with your style or not).

I would have thought you could still wear a corsett type top providing you got one that was a bit shorter (and possibly not quite as tight)?

As for big skirts - if you knew you definitely weren't going to stand up, you could always do a 'thinning out' job on one of them - if you left the fullness at the front, but took out most of the material at the back, there shouldn't be as much material to get stuck round the wheelchair. But then again, it would like quite daft if you did decide to stand!

(heaven knows why I'm trying to give advice - I'm very much a jeans & t-shirt person )

Decorated boots, coloured/patterned tights, arm/handwarmers

Could you get a skirt that was more calf-length, so you could sit in it, show off your legs ( ) but still fit in with the other girls?

Top wise - how about a vest/tank top, with a mesh-type overshirt/tunic?

I find that (being overweight) tunic tops are great - they look floaty and girly, but cover my pregnant-looking tummy

I like these tops (clicky)

and these ones....

and some of these....

Forgive me if I am way off mark

I would concentrate on accessories - fab make-up and hair. Get a real statement, strong look necklace and wear it with a strapless top as you can get softer boned ones.
I would wear stripped tights (or is that too witchy??) with a full skirt but wear a shorter on (knee length) and a pair of calf length, lace up boots with killer heels.
Whatever you wear, you will look fab x

what about some of these











Then you can dress them up with accessories

Something that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg would be if you got a cotton throw in black/purple and decorate it yourself as something Gothic. that way you could throw it over your lower half and hide your jeans - which would probably be the most comfortable thing to wear in your chair.
If its likely to be very cold, you could buy a fleece throw instead.
That's about it for a quick think..

Thankyou for the ideas Those links are great IsoChick

I love the long boots idea. I should have thought about it a week or two ago, as I could have probably got a cheap pair from eBay and painted them. I shall have a dig round some charity shops and bargain shoe shops in the morning and see what I can come up with.

I might go for a loose button-up shirt, with a corset-style top underneath. Then it doesn't have to be tight, and because it's mostly covered, it won't show that it's not real. The added bonus is that it's going to be cold, so the extra layer will be nice! I've got some pretty gloves/sleeves that would work with a short sleeved (or sleeveless) shirt.

I have some black velvet knocking around at home (an ancient dress that didn't fit me five years ago and certainly won't now ) so I could make a top hat out of some card and cover it with the velvet....

Definitely lots of ideas that I can knock together. We don't have to be in Whitby until early afternoon, and I have all day off work tomorrow, so I'm sure I can come up with something in the morning.

I'm not sure how well my hair will photograph, as it looks different depending on the light, but I'm planning to curl it for tomorrow night, so I should get some interesting pictures where the light hits different parts of the curls

Here's a few pics from previous years, just to get me in the spirit

2003 - with my ex and our best friend


2004


2005


2007 (refusing to get in the chair for pictures )


Despite having been twice in 2006, I don't have any pictures on my Photobucket account...

Wow - I love those, ElaineB

I hadn't thought of a throw, but I'm sure I can probably pick one up when we get there... There's always loads of stuff on the stalls. Failing that, I'm sure I can pick up a plain black one and put badges and things on it

Thanks so much for all the ideas! I'm really looking forward to going, now

Wow you look stunning and I'm sure what ever you choose you will still look fantastic. lots of pics please